Elon Musk’s mom praised Usha Vance as “smart and charming” on Monday in a shared post that questioned why the second lady — who’s faced attacks over her heritage — hasn’t received more attention for being the first Hindu to serve in the role.
“Why is no one talking about Usha Vance being the first Indian American and the first Hindu to serve as the Second Lady of the United States?!” the post shared by Maye Musk on her son’s social media platform X read.
“Usha is even lovelier in person, smart and charming,” Maye Musk wrote.
Usha has become adored by many in the Republican party after her husband, Vice President JD Vance, was chosen as President Trump’s running mate.
President Trump jokingly said he considered picking Usha as his vice-presidential pick during the 2024 election while at the podium on inauguration night after being sworn in as the 47th commander-in-chief.
“The only one smarter [than him] is his wife,” Trump said, turning to Vance. “I would have chosen her, but somehow, the line of succession didn’t work that way.”
Vice President Vance revealed while on the campaign trail in July that he and his wife have faced attacks from white supremacists in the past as a result of her Indian heritage.
“Look, I love my wife so much. I love her because she’s who she is,” Vance said during an interview with Megyn Kelly on her podcast.
“Obviously, she’s not a white person, and we’ve been accused, attacked by some white supremacists over that. But I just, I love Usha.”
Vance said that in addition to being “such a good mom” to their three children, sons Ewan and Vivek and daughter Mirabel, the second lady is also “a brilliant lawyer” raised by a hard-working family of immigrants.
“I’m so proud of her,” he said. “But yes, her experience has given me some perspective on the way in which it’s really hard for working families in this country.”
She and Vance married in Kentucky in 2014, one year after graduating from Yale Law School, and moved to San Francisco in 2015.
Even before her husband became vice president, Usha faced racist remarks over her husband’s career path.
In 2022, Vance criticized one of Ohio’s largest newspapers for publishing a political cartoon mocking his opposition to the Cleveland Guardians baseball team changing its name from the Indians while he was running for the US Senate.
The city’s Plain Dealer newspaper ran the cartoon by Jeff Darcy showing Vance standing next to his Democratic opponent, Rep. Tim Ryan, on a debate stage clad in San Francisco Giants gear.
“Only Indians name change I support is my wife’s to ‘Senator J.D. Vance’s Spouse,’” the cartoon depicts Vance saying.
His campaign called on the Plain Dealer to “condemn their actions immediately, or perhaps this racism is OK because it’s against a Republican.”
In a statement, Vance chief strategist Jai Chabria called on the Plain Dealer to “condemn their actions immediately, or perhaps this racism is OK because it’s against a Republican.”
The newspaper endorsed Ryan for Senate four days after the cartoon ran, but Vance defeated the Democratic nominee in the Nov. 8, 2022, general election.
The second lady’s parents immigrated to America from India in the 1970s and raised her in a Hindu household in San Diego.
Her mother, a biologist and provost at the University of California at San Diego, and her father, an engineer, emphasized the importance of education and perseverance — making hard work and studying top priorities in her upbringing.
Usha’s success in the classroom would pay off when she was accepted into Yale.
After finishing her undergraduate degree, she was awarded the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship, given to students who show “outstanding intellectual ability,” allowing her to pursue a Master of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge.
Following her time in Cambridge, she attended Yale Law — where she met her future husband and vice president during a class assignment.
In his critically acclaimed book, “Hillbilly Elegy,” Vance referred to his wife as a “Yale spirit guide” and the “super smart daughter of two immigrants.”
While at Yale, Usha was the editor of the Yale Law Journal and the managing editor of the Yale Journal of Law and Technology.
